Skinship
by supervchan
Summary: Naruto and his friends invite the Sand Siblings out for a night of fun. Yakiniku and a bathhouse, what could be more fun. What happens when Gaara reveals he's never been to a bathhouse before. It's rated T for some nudity.


Skinship

"Gaara, are you leaving already?" Naruto ran up to the red head leaving the Hokage's office. The young Kazekage was flanked by his brother and sister, as usual.

"We leave tomorrow" Kankuro spoke up for him, "The Lady Hokage-sama, wanted us to stay one more day to fill in for the teachers a the school. It seemed more than a few ninja were injured during the last mission."

"The kids get out of class in the afternoon. Let's do something before you guys leave. I'll meet you guys at the school gate when the bell rings." Naruto dashed away before they had a chance to refuse.

"What was all that about?" Gaara asked his brother.

"No idea"

Later as promised when the last student was let out, Naruto was waiting at the school gate with a few of the other genin from that they knew. Shikamaru blushed when he saw Temari who smirked. He still hadn't gotten over the fact that he cried in front of her in the hospital. Sakura and Ino were talking to Naruto about how he should dress a little bit better if they were going out to eat. Neji pretended to ignore them. He only came out of respect since the sand siblings had in fact saved his life.

"What are you all doing here?" Temari was the first one to ask.

"We are taking you out as a thank you for coming to our rescue this time. Plus, its nice to hang out as friends." Naruto put his arm around Gaara's shoulder, who jumped at the touch.

"Where are we going? I'm starved" Kankuro patted his stomach with a grin on his face.

"Yakiniku" The Leaf Ninja said together.

At the restaurant, they were given a private room because of their large group, and Neji had pulled a few strings. Neji was also the first to speak, "Order whatever you want." He had wanted to say thank you for saving his life, but this way was much easier."

"How is that other guy recovering? The bigger dude." Kankuro asked with a mouthful of meat.

"You mean Choji? He's still recovering from the procedure. We didn't tell him because we didn't want him to feel bad." Sakura answered politely. She passed some cooked beef towards Shikamaru and Temari. Shikamaru was silent. He was trying to avoid Temari's eyes.

"Hey crybaby, she's trying to hand you something. I want some of that too." Temari teased.

"I cried once, and you are probably going to never let me live that down" Shikamaru used his hand to rub the back of his head. It felt like they ate for hours, but they were satisfied when they finished. The bill was split among the Leaf Ninja who had one more surprise for their Sand allies.

"We are also going to treat you to an Onsen. Konoha has the best." Naruto announced as they were leaving. The girls were beaming, and the guys shrugged.

"What's an Onsen?" Gaara asked his brother. Naruto over hearing this conversation was surprised.

"It's an open air bath. Its very relaxing, and it can help teammates and friends get closer." Naruto fisted the air, "It's called skinship."

When they reached the bathhouse, Gaara was lead into the men's changing area. Kankuro, Neji, Shikamaru, and Naruto immediately started to take their clothes off. Gaara just stood there staring. Kankuro broke him from his trance, "Hey Gaara, take off your clothes. Don't just stare."

"My cl..clothes, I've ne..never." Gaara stuttered.

"Oh yeah, you've probably never been to a bath house before. You guys go first. We'll be in soon." Kankuro let the other guys go into the shower area first, "It's just a bath. You need to take off your clothes to take a bath. If you feel embarrassed, here's a towel. Some guys wrap it around their waist when they go in."

Kankuro turned his back to give Gaara some privacy. He felt a smile when he heard buckles hit the floor. He forgot how not normal of a childhood his brother had, "Does this really help people get closer together?"

"Yeah, because there's no weapons or clothes. Its just us. It makes us all vulnerable together." Kankuro didn't even bother with a towel to prove to Gaara just how okay he was with the experience. When they walked into the bathing area, Gaara tried to stay hidden behind his brother, but Kankuro stepped aside to sit on a stool so he could wash his hair. Gaara jumped at suddenly being exposed. His hand tightened on the towel around his waist. Naruto's brightness seem to make Gaara more nervous.

"Hey Gaara, you can use this stool next to me." Naruto pointed to one of the stools in front of a faucet. Gaara suddenly realized exactly how naked everyone was. He couldn't even use his sand to protect himself because water was a weakness to sand. Naruto was very naked. Gaara could even see the wisps of blond hair in his private area. Shikamaru and Neji were no longer in the room, they were already in the open air bath. Kankuro finished washing and walked out into the bath as well. It was just Gaara and a very naked Naruto.

Gaara summoned all his courage to sit down and then tried to focus on washing. When he finished, he noticed that he was alone. Naruto had left too sensing his uneasiness. When he finally walked out to the bath, he noticed that others had their towels on their head or on the side.

"Oh yeah, you're not really supposed to get the towel in the water. Its supposed to keep the water clean." Kankuro explained. He sighed as he slid into the water. Naruto scooched over to allow Gaara some space. Gaara did not want to remove his towel. He wanted to run away, but Kankuro said this would help him get closer to others. Naruto was beaming at him like a light that was just too bright. No one else was paying attention to him. Finally, Gaara gave up. He slowly untied his towel and tried to bend slightly so his arm could cover a place that no one had ever seen before then. When he stepped into the water, all his worries melted away. It felt incredible to feel the hot water on his skin.

"This must be weird for you." Naruto said understandingly, "I would understand if this was too much for you. I love baths though. We always go after a tough mission. I thought it would be nice."

"You guys were right. Konoha's onsens are the best." Kankuro closed his eyes to relax, "We have hot sand spas though. You guys should definitely try those."

"You look different without your make-up" Naruto said.

"Don't be rude, Naruto." Shikamaru chided. Kankuro wasn't offended. He was amused that it took this long for someone to comment, but it left an opening for him to tease the fox ninja.

"I was surprised to see that you really are blond." Kankuro teased. Naruto flushed bright red and sunk down into the water a little further. Naruto splashed Kankuro in the face, "Hey, but you know. Gaara's a natural redhead."

Naruto looked down at Gaara's body and his eyes widened, "Wow he's really red"

Gaara's face suddenly matched his hair and he covered up quickly, "Don't look." He turned his body and his head away, "Don't look at me."

Neji splashed Naruto this time, "He said 'don't look' sicko". He sent Gaara an apologetic look.

"I just looked for a second, sorry Gaara."

Kankuro whispered to his brother, "Now's the time when you get him back."

Suddenly, there was a lot of splashing.

On the other side, the girls were trying to ignore the ruckus, "At least he's finally learning to be among humans."

"I wouldn't classify Naruto as a human. He's more of just a pest." Sakura smiled.

"I couldn't agree more" Ino chimed in.


End file.
